Top Rock Acts Gear Up For VH1’s Who Tribute

Learning covers for VH1’s “Rock Honors” tribute to the Who has been a labor of love for many of the participants, including Pearl Jam, the Flaming Lips and Incubus. The event, which tapes tomorrow (July 12) at UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion, will also feature Foo Fighters and Tenacious D, along with a show-closing set by the Who itself.

Billboard chatted with the Flaming Lips’ Wayne Coyne, Pearl Jam’s Jeff Ament and Incubus’ Brandon Boyd about the impact the Who’s music has had on their lives, both on and off the stage.

Wayne Coyne:
In 1986, when we were waiting for “Here It Is” to come out, we’d be on this endless tour doing a medley of “Tommy” playing to these punk rock kids. They’d have no idea what we’re playing and tell us to record them. Here we are and we’re asked by VH1 to do a medley of “Tommy.” It’s like, “Yeah, we kinda did that back in 1986!” Hopefully it will be a lot better now.

The Who were the ones, for me. A string of great bands came through Oklahoma City in the mid ’70s, and I was just old enough. I think I was 15. They still had Keith Moon. I had seen these slew of bands in high school, like Led Zeppelin and the bands that are now the pillars of classic rock. But the Who were the most religious. I walked around for years after wondering why all bands didn’t play like the Who. The more I found out about music, art and intensity, the Who always remained true. They just inform you so much about a working class philosophy mixed with this transcendental energy.

I don’t know why it appealed to me so much. I couldn’t relate to some sides of the hippie movement, and the Who spoke to me more. I wanted to be a rock star based on their kind of mold. I met Pete [Townshend] a couple years ago, and he’s so smart and sensitive. I’ve met some of the guys I think would be so cool, but they end up being duds in one way or another. Of all of them, he had the most to lose in my eyes, but he’s better, smarter and more caring than I could have magined. When I saw the Who play here two years ago, it had been 31 years since I saw them in the same building, but this time I’m backstage with Pete Townshend!

Jeff Ament
The main thing for me is, growing up with hard rock music, I was really, really into “Quadrophenia,” probably more than any of the other records. When I got into punk rock in the late ’70s/early ’80s, I kind of turned my back on almost all the hard rock music until I came to Seattle to see the Clash and the Who play. I came to see the Clash. I could have given two sh*ts about the Who at that point. But the thing was, the Clash were a little disappointing. They were kind of at the end of their rope and it didn’t look like there was a whole lot of chemistry on stage. Nobody was looking at each other.

It was at the Kingdome in Seattle, and I remember after the Clash saying, “Man, I just spent $25 and that was pretty disappointing.” So, I went to the back of the arena and sat against the wall, and the Who came out. From the first note, it was like, “Wow, this is f*cking incredible.” In terms of that punk rock energy, they still had it, and the Clash had lost it. I made my way through the crowd and watched the show in the midst of 10,000 people. They won me back. I went and bought “Live at Leeds” and that became the first rock staple in my record collection back in my punk rock days.

In Pearl Jam, this was a really big connection early on. Ed [Vedder] talked a lot about how “Quadrophenia” was his reference point for living his life. It made me kind of go back and pay a little bit more attention to the lyrics, because when I was a kid I was more interested in the emotive qualities of the song. That was a big connection for me with Ed at that point.

Brandon Boyd
I’ve never seen them live. I was a late convert to the Who. I discovered them in early adulthood, like my early 20s. One of the things that turned me onto them was “Quadrophenia.” I didn’t know it was connected to the Who. But I got educated on it and was taken by the whole aesthetic and the mythology of the rockers versus the mods. It’s one of the reasons I wanted to get a Vespa, which I still have.

I just know that for me as a singer, Roger Daltrey… I’ve stolen a lot of my tricks from him, to be completely honest. Simple things like figuring out how to not let my cord yank out of the back of the microphone. There’s nothing worse then when you’re really feeling it and the mic goes flying by itself. It’s traumatic.

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Chicago releases ‘lost’ album 15 years after recording it

Some fans of the band Chicago thought this day would never come. Many have waited 15 years for it.

An album the band recorded in 1993 finally goes on sale Tuesday, long after a squabble between the group and its former record company shelved the project.

The album’s release by Rhino Records has set off a wave of excitement on Chicago’s fan club Web site.

“I am waaaaay excited about this,” said a fan nicknamed “sprout.” “I’ve been hearing about these songs for years, and now I’ll actually get to hear them for myself! Yea!!!!!!”

“I am really glad to see Rhino finally releasing a forgotten masterpiece,” another fan said.

The album, “Stone of Sisyphus,” takes its name from a character in Greek mythology who rolls a heavy stone up a hill only to have it roll back down — again and again — for eternity.

“It’s very apropos, isn’t it?” producer Peter Wolf said. “It took us 15 years to see the light of day.”

The album harkens back to the band’s socially conscious early days, recorded in a style much different from the light-rock ballads that sent Chicago to the top of the pop charts.

The band formed in 1967, committed to the concept of a rock ‘n’ roll band with horns. First called The Big Thing, the group was known as Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) on its debut album before taking its present name.

In more than four decades, Chicago has sold more than 122 million recordings. It had five consecutive No. 1 albums and has had more than 50 Top-40 singles.

The band became a staple of underground FM and college radio stations a few years after forming. Disc jockeys talking in low, slow tones feasted on tracks like “Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?” and “Beginnings.”

Listeners debated the meaning of “25 or 6 to 4.” Some said it was about an LSD trip, and that got it banned from some radio stations. Chicago was so hip that Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix invited the group on tour.

Yet that sense of cool was lost as Chicago launched a string of successful — if horn-muted — ballads in the late 1970s and 1980s. Producer David Foster is credited with resurrecting Chicago’s career and shoving it into overdrive by downplaying the band’s traditional sound in favor of more synthesizers and ballads.

Foster’s formula thrust singer Peter Cetera into the spotlight. Chicago became a pop music juggernaut. Cetera left in 1985 after “Chicago 17,” the group’s biggest-selling album, and was replaced by Jason Scheff, son of Elvis Presley’s former bassist, Jerry Scheff.

But little changed as the band continued to roll out a familiar string of pop ballads - topped by the million-selling “Look Away” in 1988.

By the early 1990s, however, producer Wolf was happy to oblige band members after learning that they wanted to return to their roots.

“I was always a huge Chicago fan. It was a natural thing for me wanting them to sound like the Chicago I love,” Wolf said. “They have an incredibly identifiable horn sound. You have to bring that out or you’re not doing it right.”

The band was on a mission to bring back the old sound, said former Chicago guitarist Dawayne Bailey, who composed the title track of the new album.

“The entire project was a direct and deliberate response to what they had been releasing up to that point ” he said.

Chicago brought back the horns and the rock ‘n’ roll attitude on “Stone of Sisyphus,” but Warner Brothers Records shelved the project.

“It was a little too adventuresome, shall we say, for the label at the time,” trombonist and founding member James Pankow recalled on A&E’s “Private Sessions.” “They were expecting another ‘If You Leave Me Now,’ ‘Hard to Say I’m Sorry.’”

Wolf said the rejection had little to do with the music.

“It was only about politics and greed,” Wolf said, “nothing to do with the talent.”

“They heard the album and they didn’t get it,” Pankow said. “They asked us to go back and do it again and we said, ‘Sorry, this is where we’re at.’”

Trumpeter Lee Loughnane said the band was “dumbfounded” by the rejection.

“We had finished and released 21 previous recordings,” he said, “so I guess the shock of our first rejection took a little time for us to get used to.”

When the band left Warner Bros, they took the album with them. They shifted their focus to other projects, other songs, but the fans did not forget. They passed along rumors that the album would come out in the mid- 1990s, but that didn’t happen.

A few fans obtained taped copies of the album. They would copy the tapes and trade them by mail, each successive copy worse than the one before.

Hard-core fans yearned to hear the Chicago of old — with the trademark horn style — but Chicago continued in the 1990s to record the type of ballads members said they wanted to get away from. That only increased fans’ curiosity about “Stone of Sisyphus.”

Chicago teased its fans in 2003, making three tracks from the album available as part of a four-CD, career-spanning box set.

Fans weren’t satisfied.

“All the fans have been e-mailing us again and again to release the record,” Wolf said. “Nothing could hold it back.”

A few versions of the “lost” album became available for download on the Internet, but that was a bootleg release, and relatively few people knew about it.

Now the album is available to the general public, a varied collection with the Chicago horns up front and prominent.

The styles range from rock to pop to soul — true to the band’s Grammy-winning, genre-blending formula — with a few ballads thrown in for good measure.

“Even though there’s still some soft, fuzzy ballads … that we were supposedly getting away from,” Bailey said, “the lyric edge in (the) songs proves that we were going for more organic true expression over uninspired canned radio product.”

The band hopes “Stone of Sisyphus” reminds its most ardent fans of a sound that launched the band in the late 1960s.

“Good things come to those who wait,” Loughnane said

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Album Review: Weezer, “Weezer (The Red Album)”

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Dave Matthews Band Still Plugging Away On New CD

Dave Matthews Band

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Q&A: The ‘American Idol’ Final Four

One of these four young singers will be crowned the next “American Idol.” In an exclusive series of Q&As, we bring you discussions with the remaining four “American Idol” finalists: David Archuleta, Jason Castro, David Cook and Syesha Mercado.

Great American Music columnist Fergie Brunson has been spending time with the quartet since they became part of the show’s top 24. He recently had a chance to spend a full day interviewing the singers, and found them opening up about their thoughts on the “Idol” experience, as well as sharing illuminating details of their musical backgrounds and aspirations.

DAVID ARCHULETA
Just seventeen, David Archuleta is the youngest contestant still in the running to win season seven of “American Idol.” In this exclusive Billboard interview, the Utah native opens up about the vocal paralysis that almost kept him from singing, singing for season one “Idol” contestants, mulling careers in medicine and how he’d still like to go to college.

SYESHA MERCADO
Syesha Mercado, who has sung everything from the Beatles’ “Yesterday” to Fantasia Barrino’s “I Believe,” is the last woman standing among the season seven “American Idol” final four. In this exclusive interview, the 21-year old from Sarasota, Florida opens up about the lessons she’s learned while doing the show, her musical family and her plans for the future.

JASON CASTRO
Dreadlocked 20-year-old Jason Castro’s rendition of everything from Neil Diamond’s “Forever in Blue Jeans” to a popular version of Jeff Buckley’s “Hallelujah” has helped earn him a place in the final four of the seventh season of “American Idol. In this exclusive Billboard interview, the Texan talks about how working with the show’s big-name mentors has been weird but cool, how he started off as a drummer, and how he “can’t even wrap his mind around” his growing fanbase.

DAVID COOK
David Cook only decided to audition alongside his younger brother at the last minute, but now the 25-year-old is among the last four singers in the season seven competition. Having sung everything from Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” to Free’s “All Right Now,” the Missouri native sat down for an exclusive Billboard interview, revealing how he chooses his songs, how former contestant Michael Johns’ departure was a wake up call, and how “Idol” fans’ interest in him has been “awe inspiring” and how the whole experience has been “vindicating.”

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New Album Releases 04/29/08: Madonna, Steve Winwood, Portishead, The Roots, Def Leppard, Mudcrutch, Zappa Plays Zappa & More

This is a great track

With most, if not all eyes on the new Madonna album hitting stores this week, it’d be easy to overlook the “other stuff” out there — but it would also be a mistake.

There are plenty of interesting choices for just about every taste imaginable in this week’s new release offerings. These range from the long awaited return of veterans like Steve Winwood, to a “debut album” that has been in the works for at least three or so decades now.

I haven’t actually heard anything from Madonna’s Hard Candy yet. What I do know is that the set is being ballyhooed as the “Material Girl’s” return to her roots as a dancefloor diva, and that she has enlisted folks like Justin Timberlake and Timbaland for a more modern sounding disco makeover. I also noticed that the cover features a seductive shot of Madge all decked out in S&M gear. Which begs the question “how old is too old” to be pimping the whole sex-kitten thing?

Hard Candy comes in both a standard, and a deluxe “candy-box” edition.

Unlike Madonna, I have heard Steve Winwood’s new Nine Lives, and it sounds quite tasty to these ears.

There’s nothing here that is going to be a radio staple, at least not in the same way that something as out and out catchy as “Roll With It” was. But working with a small band of crack musicians, Winwood’s voice — which sounds better than ever here — is matched with songs that have almost an early Santana sort of feel to them. There are heavy sounding keyboards, and congas aplenty here. Eric Clapton also turns in a guitar solo that is simply filthy sounding on the appropriately titled “Dirty City”.

Perhaps the most curious new release of the week is the debut from Mudcrutch, which those in the know will recognize as Tom Petty’s pre-Heartbreakers band. It’s anybody’s guess why Petty chose to revive this project at this particular time some three decades (at least!) after the fact. But revive it he has, and from what we hear there is a very decent sounding alt-americana vibe to this belated “debut album.”

Other noteworthy releases this week include the politically themed hip hop of Rising Down from the Roots, and Def Leppard’s arena-ready Songs from the Sparkle Lounge. Tom Johnson will also be along shortly to talk about why Portishead’s Third may be an early album of the year contender.

Right now however, it’s time to check out what Mark Saleski picked up at the record store this week:

Saleski’s Choice - Zappa Plays Zappa

I remember exactly where I was when I found out that Frank Zappa had passed away. It was early in the morning and I was running on the treadmill in my basement. Normally, I’m not what you would call a morning person. In fact, looking back at this, it’s a little puzzling that I’d be doing anything more aerobic than lifting a cup of black coffee at that hour. Giving it a little more thought, I now remember that I was slogging my way through the final years of a marriage gone dormant, and the workouts were my way of insulating myself from depression.

The news item came on the radio and I switched off the treadmill, went over and sat on the weight bench, and stared a hole in the wall.

About 30 minutes later, I was on the road with Frank Zappa’s You Can’t Do That On Stage Anymore/Helsinki Concert album threatening to blow the windows out. Life seemed sort of empty and somehow, Frank’s music added some substance.

In 2006, Dweezil took his father’s music out on the road and really did it proud. As you would expect, he brought along a killer band, which featured special guests such as Napoleon Murphy Brock, Steve Vai (impossible guitar parts), and Terry Bozzio. I am all over this. (Pssst! Look for the accompanying DVD).

Tom Johnson’s Pick Of The Week: Portishead: - Third

Not many bands can get away with a lengthy hiatus that isn’t filled with snickers about the artists’ abilities to create worthy new material. Few are given a blank check to just disappear to write new music and come back with their credibility in check. Peter Gabriel has successfully proven that his excessive in-between album phases proves beneficial - he’s yet to release a dud - and now Portishead is back to prove that the 11 years since their self-titled second album was a fruitful “vacation.”

All indications point to this being one of the year’s highlights, not an easy feat for a group that was last seen at the height of a genre no longer in vogue (trip-hop). Which is why Third finds the group forging new paths into some sort of weird psychedelic freakiness. It’s as oddly compelling as Dummy was back in 1994 - and my guess is Third is going to prove to be every bit an instant classic as their debut has become.

Expect to see this on damn near every best-of list this at the end of the year.

Here are all this week’s new album releases courtesy of All Music Guide:

Robert Forster
The Evangelist
Yep Roc
Alternative Pop/Rock, Contemporary Singer/Songwriter, Indie Pop

Madonna
Hard Candy
Warner Bros.
Club/Dance

Portishead
Third
Mercury/Island
Electronica, Adult Alternative Pop/Rock, Trip-Hop

The Roots
Rising Down
Def Jam
Alternative Rap, Hip-Hop

Santogold
Santogold
Downtown
Alternative Dance, Club/Dance, Indie Electronic, Dancehall

Steve Winwood
Nine Lives
Columbia
Contemporary Singer/Songwriter, Pop/Rock, Adult Contemporary

Augustana
Can’t Love, Can’t Hurt
Epic
American Trad Rock, Adult Alternative Pop/Rock

Awesome Color
Electric Aborigines
Ecstatic Peace!
Garage Punk, Noise-Rock

Baby D
A-Town Secret Weapon
KR Urban
Southern Rap, Dirty South

Bobby & Blumm
Everybody Loves…
Morr Music/M.M.
Indie Pop, Ambient Pop, Post-Rock/Experimental

Boris
Smile
Southern Lord
Experimental Rock, Noise-Rock, Post-Rock/Experimental

The Cab
Whisper War
Decaydance/Fueled by Ramen
Alternative Pop/Rock, Emo

Chin Chin
Chin Chin
Definitive Jux
Electro, Jazz-Rock, Techno, House

Cloudland Canyon
Lie in Light
Kranky
Space Rock, Neo-Psychedelia, Indie Rock, Prog-Rock/Art Rock

Roger Clyne & the Peacemakers
Turbo Ocho [CD/DVD]
Emma Java
Americana, Roots Rock, Heartland Rock

Constantines
Kensington Heights
Arts & Crafts
Indie Rock

David Karsten Daniels
Fear of Flying
FTC
Indie Pop, Alternative Singer/Songwriter

Def Leppard
Songs from the Sparkle Lounge
Bludgeon Riffola/Island
Pop-Metal, Album Rock, Hard Rock, Pop/Rock

Dizzee Rascal
Maths and English
XL
Garage Rap/Grime

Steve Earle
Copperhead Road [Deluxe Edition]
Geffen
Heartland Rock, Roots Rock, Country-Rock, Americana, Alternative Country

Ensemble Belladonna
Melodious Melancholye
Raumklang
Medieval Vocal and Choral Music

Estelle
Shine
Atlantic/Homeschool
Urban, Contemporary R&B, British Rap

Fate
Vultures
Metal Blade
Heavy Metal, Thrash

Forever the Sickest Kids
Underdog Alma Mater
Universal Motown
Punk-Pop, Emo

Ronnie Hawkins
Arkansas Rockpile/Mojo Man
Collectors’ Choice Music
Rock & Roll

Hayden
In Field & Town
Hardwood/Universal
Lo-Fi, Alternative Pop/Rock, Sadcore, American Trad Rock, Alternative Singer/Songwriter, Contemporary Singer/Songwriter

Heloise & The Savoir Faire
Trash, Rats and Microphones
Yep Roc
Indie Electronic, Indie Rock

Griffin House
Flying Upside Down
RCA
Contemporary Singer/Songwriter, Adult Alternative Pop/Rock, Alternative Country

Lyfe Jennings
Lyfe Change
Columbia
Contemporary R&B, Neo-Soul

Jimmy Eat World
Bleed American [2 CD Deluxe Edition]
Geffen
Punk-Pop, Emo

David Johansen
David Johansen
Razor & Tie
New York Punk, Hard Rock, Rock & Roll

David Johansen
Live It Up
Razor & Tie
New York Punk, Hard Rock, Rock & Roll

Joy Division
The Best of Joy Division [2 CD]
Rhino/London
Post-Punk

Andrew Kennedy
On Wenlock Edge
Signum
Post-Romantic, Modern and Contemporary Vocal Music

Langhorne Slim
Langhorne Slim
Kemado
Alternative Singer/Songwriter, Alternative Country-Rock, Alternative Folk, Americana, Indie Rock

Jamie Lidell
Jim
Warp
Neo-Soul, Experimental Techno

Liverpool Five
Best of the Liverpool Five
Sundazed
Pop/Rock, Garage Rock, British Invasion

Mindless Self Indulgence
If
The End
Industrial Dance, Industrial Metal

Mudcrutch
Mudcrutch
Reprise / Wea
Heartland Rock, Rock & Roll, Bar Band, Pop/Rock, Hard Rock

Music of Remembrance
Jake Heggie: For a Look or a Touch
Naxos
Contemporary Chamber and Vocal Music

Nerf Herder
IV
Oglio
Comedy Rock, Punk-Pop, Post-Grunge, Alternative Pop/Rock, Punk Revival, Indie Rock

New Found Glory/International Superheroes of Hardcore
Tip of the Iceberg/Takin’ It Ova!
B9
Post-Hardcore, Punk-Pop

One Night Only
Started a Fire
Mercury
Alternative Singer/Songwriter, Indie Pop, Indie Rock

Susan Platts
Frauenliebe und Leben
Atma Classique
Romantic Vocal Music

David del Tredici
David del Tredici: Vintage Alice; Dracula
Innova
Contemporary Vocal Music

Puscifer
V Is for Viagra: The Remixes
Zomba/Puscifer
Electro-Industrial, Industrial

Eli “Paperboy” Reed & The True Loves
Roll with You
Q Division
Blue-Eyed Soul, Neo-Soul

Carly Simon
This Kind of Love
Hear Music
Pop, Adult Contemporary, Singer/Songwriter

South
You Are Here
Bluhammock
Alternative Pop/Rock, Indie Rock, Dream Pop

Phil Stacey
Phil Stacey
Lyric Street
Pop Idol, Contemporary Country, Pop/Rock

Strategy
Music for Lamping
Audio Dregs
Indie Electronic, IDM, Electronica, Post-Rock/Experimental

Tickley Feather
Tickley Feather
Paw Tracks
Experimental Rock, Indie Rock

Mel Tillis
Me and Pepper
Collectors’ Choice Music
Country-Pop, Traditional Country

Zappa Plays Zappa
Zappa Plays Zappa
Razor & Tie
Guitar Virtuoso, Hard Rock

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Music Review: Whitesnake CD

Whitesnake “Good To Be Bad” (SPV): It’s only April, but Whitesnake has laid down the marker for the best hard rock record of the year; anyone wanting the crown will have to top this excellent effort, the band’s first new studio album in 11 years.

The masters of melodic metal, led by frontman David Coverdale, have brought back old-school power rock — heavy enough to satisfy the headbanger within, but catchy enough to embed the song in your brain.

The band’s ever-changing lineup now sports the twin guitar attack of Doug Aldrich (Dio) and Reb Beech (Alice Cooper, Dokken, Winger), and both play with speed, ferocity and melody. From the opening riffs of “Best Years” to the title track and the fast-paced rocker “Got What You Need,” the pair perfectly complement Coverdale’s wails.

The best track is “Lay Down Your Love,” the closest thing to a metal mash-up of Whitesnake classics “Slow And Easy” and “Still of The Night.” The latter track is particularly evident here, from the bump-and boogie riff that shimmies, then pauses for Coverdale’s vocals, to the subdued, mid-tonal middle.

Other appropriations include the ballad “All I Want, All I Need,” which evokes the power ballad “Is This Love?” Close your eyes, and you’ll soon imagine Tawny Kitean and her little white dress from the memorable 1987 video. And the catchy “All For Love” cops the main riff from the Kansas classic “Carry On Wayward Son.”

“‘Til The End Of Time” closes the album on a note reminiscent of mid-’70s acoustic Led Zeppelin, and even finishes with a “Kashmir” riff.

All in all, this is proof that even though long in the tooth, Whitesnake still has fangs.

CHECK THIS TRACK OUT: Did you like Whitesnake’s biggest-ever hit, “Still Of the Night” in 1987? Well, you’ll love it here again in 2008 with “Lay Down Your Love.” VERY similar riff and vocal patterns tie these two tracks closely together. Hey, you go with what works …

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Fine album has slightly bitter taste

 

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Urban up for two country music awards

Urban, husband to Australian actress Nicole Kidman, is up for entertainer of the year and top male vocalist.

Other nominees for entertainer of the year are Kenny Chesney, Brad Paisley, George Strait and the duo Rascal Flatts. For the first time, fans will choose the winner of the award.

Top male vocalist nominations also went to Chesney, Paisley, Strait and Rodney Atkins.

Chesney is the leading contender with 11 nominations. Atkins, who has had four straight number one singles in the US, is second with six.

Third on the nominations list was Paisley, the duos Big and Rich and Sugarland with four nominations.

Miranda Lambert and 18-year-old Taylor Swift both received three nominations.

The nominees for top female vocalist are Lambert, Swift, Martina McBride, LeAnn Rimes and Carrie Underwood.

The nominations were announced in Nashville.

If you are trying to learn a new language, we found that Rosetta Stone works very well.

The awards will be presented on May 18 in Las Vegas.

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James Taylor Biography

 When people use the term “singer/songwriter” (often modified by the word “sensitive”) in praise or in criticism, they’re thinking of James Taylor. In the early ’70s, when he appeared with his introspective songs, acoustic guitar, and calm, understated singing style, he mirrored a generation’s emotional exhaustion after tumultuous times. Just as Bing Crosby’s reassuring voice brought the country out of the Depression and through World War II, Taylor’s eased the transition from ’60s activism and its attendant frustrations into the less political, more inward-looking ’70s. He was rewarded with a series of hit albums and singles (surprisingly, many of the latter were covers of old songs rather than his own compositions), and he managed to survive his initial fame to achieve lasting popularity. He continued to tour successfully for decades, and, starting with his 1970 breakthrough Sweet Baby James, all but one of his regular album releases for the rest of the century went gold or platinum, while his 1976 Greatest Hits album achieved a diamond certification reflecting sales of more than ten million copies.

Taylor was the son of Dr. Isaac and Gertrude Taylor. His three brothers Alex (1947-1993), Livingston, and Hugh - and his sister Kate - all became musicians and recorded albums of their own. In 1951, Dr. Taylor was appointed dean of the medical school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and the family moved from New England to the South. Taylor studied cello as a child, but first took up the guitar in 1960. In 1963, he began attending Milton Academy, a prep school in Massachusetts. That summer, he met fellow guitarist Danny “Kootch” Kortchmar while staying on Martha’ s Vineyard, and the two formed a folk duo. Taylor dropped out of school at 16 and formed a band with his brother Alex. Having moved to New York, he suffered from depression and checked himself into McLean Psychiatric Hospital in Massachusetts, a stay that would inspire some of his early songs. While there, he earned a high school diploma. Upon release, he returned to New York in 1966 and formed a new group, the Flying Machine, with Kortchmar and Joel O’Brien. The band played in Greenwich Village and was signed to a fledgling record label, Rainy Day Records (the name taken from Taylor’ s song “Rainy Day Man”). It released one single, “Brighten Your Night with My Day” / “Night Owl,” both songs written by Taylor. The record was unsuccessful, and the band broke up in the spring of 1967.

By 1968, Taylor had become addicted to heroin. In an attempt to overcome his addiction, he moved to London, where he submitted a demo tape to Peter Asher, former member of Peter and Gordon, then working for the Beatles’ Apple Records label. As a result, Taylor was signed to Apple and recorded his debut solo album, James Taylor, released in the U.K. in December 1968 and in the U.S. in February 1969. Initially, it received little attention. A more pressing concern, however, was that Taylor had not been able to kick heroin. As a result, he returned to the U.S. and checked into the Austin Riggs Hospital in Massachusetts. By July 1969, he had recovered sufficiently to make his solo debut at the Troubadour nightclub in Los Angeles, but soon after he was in a motorcycle accident and broke both of his hands, which put him out of commission for several months.

Freed of his Apple Records contract, Taylor signed to Warner Bros. Records, moved to California, and, retaining Asher as his manager and producer, recorded his second album, Sweet Baby James. It was released in February 1970 and became a major success during the course of the year, spurred by the single “Fire and Rain,” a song that reflected on his experiences in mental institutions, which peaked in the top five in October, the same month that Sweet Baby James achieved the same status on the LP charts. With that, interest in Taylor’s first album was re-stimulated, and it belatedly reached the charts along with the single “Carolina on My Mind,” as did James Taylor and the Original Flying Machine - 1967, a short collection of unfinished recordings made by his ’60s band. Sweet Baby James then spawned a second hit single, “Country Road,” which peaked in the Top 40 in March 1971. The same month, Taylor appeared on the cover of Time magazine, touted as the founder and leading proponent of the “singer/songwriter” trend in popular music.

Meanwhile, Taylor had acted in a feature film, Two-Lane Blacktop, co-starring with the Beach Boys’ Dennis Wilson. It was not successful, and Taylor never pursued an acting career, though it has been well-reviewed subsequently. Taylor also worked on a new album, returning to record stores in April 1971 with Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon. As he toured the U.S., the LP spent the summer in the Top Ten, eventually peaking just below the top of the charts, paced by its first single, “You’ve Got a Friend,” written by Carole King, which hit number one in July and went gold. A second single, “Long Ago and Far Away,” reached the Top 40, and the album eventually sold more than two million copies. On March 14, 1972, Taylor won the 1971 Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male, for “You’ve Got a Friend.”

Taylor took what was then considered a long time - more than a year and a half - to come up with his next album, One Man Dog, released in November 1972. On November 3, 1972, during an appearance at Radio City Music Hall in New York, he announced to the crowd that he had married singer/songwriter Carly Simon earlier in the day. Simon was already well known for the hits “That’s the Way I’ve Always Heard It Should Be” and “Anticipation,” and would soon top the charts with “You’re So Vain.” One Man Dog marked a fall-off in Taylor’s record sales, though it went gold, reached the top five, and spawned a top 20 single in “Don’t Let Me Be Lonely Tonight.”

Taylor was next heard from in January 1974, when he sang a duet with his wife of “Mockingbird,” a cover of the 1963 hit by Inez and Charlie Foxx, on her Hot Cakes album. Released as a single, the recording reached the Top Five and went gold. That spring, Taylor launched a major tour in anticipation of his next album, Walking Man, released in June. Though it reached the Top 20, the album was a commercial disappointment, failing to go gold or produce a chart single. But Taylor bounced back the following year with the May release of Gorilla. Again, he succeeded by reviving an old hit, this time Marvin Gaye’s 1964 song “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You),” which reached the Top Five, helping the album become a Top Ten, gold-selling hit.

In the Pocket, Taylor’s seventh album, was his third annual warm-weather release, appearing in June 1976. Its single was the singer’s own “Shower the People,” which reached the Top 40, while the album made the Top 20 and went gold. Nearing the end of his Warner Bros. contract, Taylor re-recorded a couple of his Apple songs for his Greatest Hits LP, released in November. It became a perennial seller. With that, in a major coup, he was signed by Columbia Records. His debut for the label, JT, was released in June 1977. Once again, a revival spurred its sales, as Taylor covered Jimmy James’ 1959 song “Handy Man” and took it into the top five, followed by a top 20 showing for his own “Your Smiling Face.” With such stimulation, JT reached the top five and sold over two million copies. On February 23, 1978, Taylor picked up a second Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male, for “Handy Man.”

Along with Paul Simon, Taylor was a featured singer on Art Garfunkel’s cover of “(What A) Wonderful World,” previously a hit for Sam Cooke and Herman’s Hermits, which peaked in the Top 20 in March 1978. Taylor next became involved with the Broadway musical Working, based on Studs Terkel’s bestseller, writing three songs for it. The show ran a scant 25 performances after opening on May 14, 1978, but Taylor reclaimed “Millworker” and “Brother Trucker” for his next album. Meanwhile, his duet with Carly Simon on a revival of the Everly Brothers’ “Devoted to You” peaked in the Top 40 in September.

Flag, marking a nearly two-year break between albums, appeared in April 1979, its Top 40 hit single being a revival of the 1963 Drifters hit “Up on the Roof.” Despite the lack of a really big hit single, the LP reached the Top Ten and went platinum. That September, Taylor performed at Madison Square Garden in the No Nukes concerts, later being featured in the No Nukes triple-LP and in the No Nukes concert film.

Taylor embarked on a national tour in the summer of 1980, despite not having a current album to promote. From here on, recurrent touring became a regular part of his career and contributed to his longevity as an artist. That fall, he appeared on the children’s album In Harmony 2, singing “Jelly Man Kelly.” The album won the 1981 Grammy for Best Recording for Children. He toured extensively during 1981, releasing Dad Loves His Work in February. The album reached the Top Ten and went gold, spurred by the Top Ten success of the single “Her Town Too,” written by Taylor, J.D. Souther, and Waddy Wachtel, Taylor’s most successful original composition since “Fire and Rain.”

Taylor continued to tour frequently in the early 1980s, a period when his marriage to Carly Simon came to an end (they were divorced in 1983). Often, his performances took place overseas. In January 1985, he performed at the Rock in Rio concert in Brazil, a show that resulted in the Brazil-only release Live in Rio. His next studio album, following a gap of more than four years, was That’s Why I’m Here, released in October 1985. As usual, his record label issued a cover song as the single; in this case it was Buddy Holly’s “Everyday,” which didn’t get very far up the charts. Nevertheless, Taylor’s long career and constant touring had brought him a permanent audience ready to buy his records, and the album eventually went platinum. On December 14, 1985, he married for the second time, to Kathryn Walker; a month later, he was on tour in Australia.

Road work continued to be Taylor’s primary occupation in the mid-’80s, but he came off tour long enough to finish another album, Never Die Young, only a little more than two years after That’s Why I’m Here, released in January 1988. The title song, issued as a single, barely reached the charts, but Never Die Young was another million-seller. The late ’80s and early ’90s saw more extensive, worldwide touring. New Moon Shine, Taylor’s 13th regular album release, came in October 1991, the same month that he sold out six consecutive shows at the Paramount Theater in New York; the disc stayed in the charts nearly a year and sold a million copies.

Despite his consistent draw as a concert attraction, Taylor had never released a live album in the U.S. until the August 1993 appearance of (Live), a two-CD set that went platinum within months. Columbia Records, which had never had a Taylor compilation to promote, trimmed the album down to a single disc of hits for the 1994 release Best (Live). Taylor was divorced from his second wife in 1996. His next album, Hourglass, released in May 1997, demonstrated his continuing appeal by entering the charts in the Top Ten. On February 25, 1998, it won the 1997 Grammy for Best Pop Album. In October the same year, Columbia issued the DVD Live at the Beacon Theater while Billboard magazine was honoring Taylor with their highest accolade, the Century Award.

By 2000, Taylor’s first Greatest Hits collection had sold over 10 million copies, earning him the RIAA’s Diamond Award. Taylor was also inducted into both the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame in 2000 and at the end of the year, Columbia issued Greatest Hits, Vol. 2, covering the years 1977-1997. Fans who had waited five years for new material were awarded with October Road in 2002, an album earned two Grammy nominations and eventually went platinum. A year later, The Best of James Taylor became the first compilation to cover material from his years with Apple, Warner Bros., and Columbia. In 2004, he appeared on the television show The West Wing, released a Christmas Record and sang the national anthem before game two of the World Series.

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